Saving Thailand’s elephants with champagne and paddle boats
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Saving Thailand'south elephants with champagne and paddle boats
Thailand's inaugural King's Cup Elephant Boat Race and River Festival on the Chao Phraya was an elaborate affair – with very noble ambitions.
(Photo: Bangkok River Festival)
04 Apr 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 03:58PM)
The Thais sure love their water. They congenital their capital city, Bangkok, right along the edge of one of the world'south great waterways, the Chao Phraya. They dug upward an intricate Venetian-like network of klongs, or canals, and synthetic fabled teak homes along them. Their navy is a source of pride and joy. For centuries, they've staged elaborate river festivals, and devoted an entire vacation, Songkran, to water. Even their markets bladder.
Is it any wonder, then, that one of Thailand'southward marquee events this year was the countdown Male monarch'south Cup Elephant Gunkhole Race and River Festivalfifty?
Over the weekend of Mar 29 to 31, battalions of spectators braved the sweltering heat to descend on the banks of the Chao Phraya where a vast, white-tented prove-footing had been prepare next to the Anantara Riverside and the Avani+ Riverside hotels.
To much enthusiastic thank you – fuelled partly by drinks from a crate of sponsors that included Veuve Clicquot, Mekhong distilled spirit, Johnnie Walker Blue Characterization, and Chang beer – 12 teams from Thailand, Prc and the Philippines raced down a 200m stretch of the river in long paddle boats that were crowned at the bow with carved elephant heads, and at the stern with traditional Thai fish motifs.
The air thrummed with the amplified rapid heart-trounce of drums which set the rhythm for the paddlers – though for all the long build-up to the starting line, each heat was over faster than you could say "One tom yum goong, delight!"
Later a series of elimination rounds, the winner was, appropriately, local favourite, the Regal Thai Navy Seals – a platoon of superbly conditioned athletes whose unacceptably chiselled bodies and muscled arms took precisely 46.68 seconds to churn down the 200m course.
Meanwhile, under ane of the ground's tents, the Indoor Rowing Asia Loving cup Tournament was held with teams from ix countries – Bahrain, Chinese Taipei, India, Iraq, Japan, Malaysia, Islamic republic of pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand – rowing the equivalent of ii km on stationary machines. The winner of the women'southward title was Yi-ting Huang from Taipei, while Bharat's Parminder Singh was the men's champion.
And every bit the setting sun gathered the light below the horizon, the stage was set, literally, for a zombie house side-show, vintage car auction, clowns, and a series of concerts by local celeb chanteuses like New & Jiew and Singto Numchok, while drinks flowed freely at the sponsor tents, and Benihana and The Spice Market dished out dinner.
Of form, in the midst of all the jolly festivities, it was almost too easy to overlook a more than serious undertone to the consequence. For, as it turned out, the Festival was the culmination of the Anantara hotels' week-long celebration of Thai National Elephant Mean solar day.
The dorsum story here is worth recounting. Looking for a way to assistance elephants, William Heinecke, the hotelier and founder of Minor – a vast conglomerate that includes the Anantara and Avani brands – found his pachyderm Footing Null when he caused the Anantara Golden Triangle in 2002. Starting small, he turned the surrounding forest and grassland over to four elephants, a herd that eventually grew to 25. As the numbers expanded, and then did Heinecke'south ambitions.
For case, proceeds of all ticket sales from this year'due south King's Cup Elephant Boat Race & River Festival (and subsequent editions) go to elephant-related projects throughout Thailand that are overseen by the Aureate Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation – a Thai-registered non-profit that Heinecke set up in 2006 to help vulnerable elephants who, through abuse or circumstance, are unable to maintain an income for their budget, or for their mahouts and their families.
With the support of the Small grouping hotels, John Roberts, the Foundation's Managing director of Elephants & Conservation Activities says the Foundation "provides and promotes ethical work for elephants that are able to make a living, and a condom, healthy environs for those who cannot".
Today, the Foundation works with the likes of Freeland Foundation in Thailand, Wildlife Alliance in Cambodia, USAID, Call back Elephants International, and the Zoological Parks Organization of Thailand which helps 300 elephants in a traditional mahout hamlet in Surin.
"There are about 10,000 elephants in captivity in South Eastern asia, with a similar number in the wild," Roberts says. "Nosotros provide grooming and workshops, and nosotros investigate and share best practices."
The approach is holistic and not-confrontational. "We railroad train mahouts in mod, elephant-friendly treatment techniques. Our Thai-based wild elephant projects focus on helping manage the interface where elephants come out of what remains of their habitat and into farmers' fields to ensure it is prophylactic for humans and elephants alike. We hashtag it #SurvivingTogether.
"Every bit a 2d approach we fund research into studying the behaviour of crop-raiding elephants – the more we know nearly how they think and see the world, the better we can provide for their needs inside protected areas."
The Foundation's remit reaches into Kingdom of cambodia where it completely funds the protection of an 18,000ha elephant corridor in the Cardamom Mountains.
All of which might seem similar a long way from the music, lights and family unit-friendly carousing on the Chao Phraya, but a big splashy Thai party sure is a peachy manner to address the elephant in the room.
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